God’s Promises
The Chosen People of God
Church of Christ at Medina
May 24th, 2015
The Promises of God to Abram
Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country
and your kindred and your father's house to the land
that I will show you. And I will make of you a great
nation, and I will bless you and make your name great,
so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who
bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and
in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Genesis 12:1-3, ESV
Summary of the Promises to Abram
1. Land
– Genesis 15:18-21
“And I will give to you and to your offspring
after you the land of your sojournings, all the
land of Canaan, for an everlasting
possession, and I will be their God.”
Genesis 17:8, ESV
On that day the LORD made
a covenant with Abram,
saying, “To your offspring I
give this land, from the
river of Egypt to the great
river, the river Euphrates,
the land of the Kenites, the
Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,
the Hittites, the Perizzites,
the Rephaim, the Amorites,
the Canaanites, the
Girgashites and the
Jebusites.”
Genesis 15:18-21, ESV
Summary of the Promises to Abram
1. Land
– Genesis 15:18-21
2. Nation
– Genesis 15:4-6
And behold, the word of the
LORD came to him: “This
man shall not be your heir;
your very own son shall be
your heir.” And he brought
him outside and said, “Look
toward heaven, and number
the stars, if you are able to
number them.” Then he said
to him, “So shall your
offspring be.” And he
believed the LORD, and he
counted it to him as
righteousness.
Genesis 15:4-6, ESV
Summary of the Promises to Abram
1. Land
– Genesis 15:18-21
2. Nation
– Genesis 15:4-6
3. Seed Blessing
– Genesis 12:1-3
Now the LORD said to
Abram…“and I will bless you
and make your name great,
so that you will be a
blessing. I will bless those
who bless you, and him who
dishonors you I will curse,
and in you all the families of
the earth shall be blessed.”
Genesis 12:1-3
Abram’s Departure
“By faith Abraham obeyed when he
was called to go out to a place that
he was to receive as an inheritance.
And he went out, not knowing where
he was going. By faith he went to
live in the land of promise, as in a
foreign land, living in tents with
Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of
the same promise. For he was
looking forward to the city that has
foundations, whose designer and
builder is God.”
Hebrews 11:8-10, ESV
The active faith of Abram was very important in the plan of God. God’s
promises to Abram – and to his descendants – were dependent upon
their obedience. (Genesis 17:1-2, 22:16-18, 26:2-5).
God’s Fulfillment of the Promises to Abram
1. Land
– Joshua 21:43-45
2. Nation
3. Seed Blessing
Thus the LORD gave to Israel
all the land that he swore to
give to their fathers. And they
took possession of it, and they
settled there. And the LORD
gave them rest on every side
just as he had sworn to their
fathers. Not one of all their
enemies had withstood them,
for the LORD had given all
their enemies into their hands.
Not one word of all the good
promises that the LORD had
made to the house of Israel
had failed; all came to pass.
Joshua 21:43-45, ESV
God’s Fulfillment of the Promises to Abram
“You are the LORD, the God
who chose Abram and brought
him out of Ur of the Chaldeans
– Joshua 21:43-45
and gave him the name
– Nehemiah 9:7-8
Abraham. You found his heart
faithful before you, and made
– Nehemiah 9:22-25
with him the covenant to give
to his offspring the land of the
Canaanite, the Hittite, the
Amorite, the Perizzite, the
Jebusite, and the Girgashite.
And you have kept your
promise, for you are righteous.”
The land promise had a condition –
Nehemiah 9:7-8, ESV
Israel must remain faithful!
(Deut. 30:15-20, Joshua 23:1-13)
1. Land
2. Nation
3. Seed Blessing
God’s Fulfillment of the Promises to Abram
1. Land
2. Nation
– Exodus 1:8-10
– Deut. 4:1-8
3. Seed Blessing
“See, I have taught you statutes and
rules, as the LORD my God commanded
me, that you should do them in the land
that you are entering to take
possession of it. Keep them and do
them, for that will be your wisdom and
your understanding in the sight of the
peoples, who, when they hear all these
statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great
nation is a wise and understanding
people.’ For what great nation is there
that has a god so near to it as the
LORD our God is to us, whenever we call
upon him? And what great nation is
there, that has statutes and rules so
righteous as all this law that I set
before you today?”
Deuteronomy 4:5-8, ESV
God’s Fulfillment of the Promises to Abram
1. Land
2. Nation
3. Seed Blessing
▪ Abraham becomes the vehicle
through which God will bless all
the families or nations of the
earth.
▪ Families or Nations
– This means that God did not
intend for the blessings to be for
the Jews alone.
– Consider the prophecies of Isaiah:
▪
▪
▪
▪
Isaiah 42:1
Isaiah 49:6
Isaiah 56:6-7
Isaiah 55:3-5
▪ What is it that all nations need?
Answer: Salvation
God’s Fulfillment of the Promises to Abram
1. Land
2. Nation
3. Seed Blessing
▪ God used the physical
descendants of Abraham to bring
about the greatest blessing of all
– Jesus Christ.
▪ “You worship what you do not
know; we worship what we know,
for salvation is from the Jews.” –
Jesus speaking to the Samaritan
woman at the well in John 4:22.
▪ Jesus then is the fulfillment of
the seed promise to Abraham to
bless believing Jews and Gentiles
alike. Those who act in faith
become the heirs of Abraham.
(Galatians 3:16-29)
God’s Fulfillment of the Promises to Abram
1. Land
2. Nation
3. Seed Blessing
“He is the propitiation
for our sins, and not
for ours only, but also
for the sins of the
whole world.”
- 1 John 2:2, ESV
▪ “This is good, and it is pleasing in
the sight of God our Savior, who
desires all people to be saved and to
come to the knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God, and there is
one mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus, who gave
himself as a ransom for all, which is
the testimony given at the proper
time.” (1 Timothy 2:3-6, ESV)
▪ “But we see him who for a little
while was made lower than the
angels, namely Jesus, crowned with
glory and honor because of the
suffering of death, so that by the
grace of God he might taste death
for everyone.” (Hebrews 2:9 ESV)
So, what remains of the promise?
▪ If God has fulfilled the promises He made
to Abram, then what remains? Are the
Jews still the ‘chosen people of God’?
▪ Will the Israelites again one day receive
their land promise?
▪ Will, as some premillennialists teach, Jesus
set up a kingdom in Jerusalem once again
because they were promised an
‘everlasting kingdom’?
▪ What does the promises mean to those
who are Christians?
The Chosen People of God
▪ As we have already proven, the physical
descendants of Abraham, the Jews, were the
chosen lineage by which God would bring about
a universal blessing on all nations.
▪ They were also chosen by God to receive a
special law through the mediator Moses which
provide a means for holiness until the Seed
promise came (Galatians 3:21-25).
▪ Today, though, the chosen people of God are
not a specific physical nationality. Rather, they
are the spiritual people of God.
The Chosen People of God
“See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own
hand. It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh
who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that
they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For even
those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but
they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in
your flesh. But far be it from me to boast except in the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been
crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision
counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.
And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon
them, and upon the Israel of God.” (Galatians 6:11-16, ESV)
The Chosen People of God
▪ The book of Galatians refers to Christians in the following
ways…
1. “Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.” (4:28)
2. “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs
according to promise.” (3:29)
3. “But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.” (4:26)
▪ The New Testament plainly teaches that the church – those
who obey God in faith – is the family, household, temple and
nation of God.
The Chosen People of God
Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the
flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the
circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—remember
that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated
from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the
covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the
world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have
been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is
our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in
his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of
commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create
in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,
and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the
cross, thereby killing the hostility.
The Chosen People of God
And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and
peace to those who were near. For through him we both have
access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer
strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the
saints and members of the household of God, built on the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself
being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being
joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him
you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God
by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:11-22 ESV)
The Chosen People of God
As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the
sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living
stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy
priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God
through Jesus Christ…But you are a chosen race, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that
you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of
darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people,
but now you are God's people; once you had not received
mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:4-5, 910 ESV)
The Chosen People of God
▪ So, it is no longer the physical flesh
that God calls His own people, but those
who become part of the spiritual family
of God.
▪ The apostles made it clear that the
physical flesh meant nothing under the
law of Christ…
– Philippians 3:2-11
The Chosen People of God
▪ Also, the land of Palestine (Israel) is
not promised to return to the Jews.
They already received their land
promise, but lost it because of their
disobedience. (2 Kings 17, etc.)
▪ Jesus will not be returning to this earth
again to establish a throne in Jerusalem
because He has already fulfilled God’s plan
(John 17:4). Instead, He is coming back to
render judgment and call home His faithful
ones (2 Thess. 1:7-10, 1 Thess. 4:13-18)
Resources
▪The Kingdom of Promise and Prophecy,
Robert L. Whiteside, 1956.
▪The Abrahamaic Covenant, Daniel King Sr.,
from the 2007 Florida College Lectureships
▪Scheme of Redemption, R. Milligan, Faith
and Facts Press, Indianapolis.
▪Pictures taken from “The Bible Visualized
Old Testament”